CBC Steering Committee Meeting Highlights Progress Made Despite Challenges

On September 29, 2021, INTOSAI’s Capacity Building Committee (CBC) held its annual Steering Committee meeting, led by South African Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke, CBC Chair, and Swedish Auditor General Helena Lindberg, CBC Vice Chair. The virtual event featured updates from the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) leading CBC’s subcommittees, task forces, and workstreams, whose work demonstrates—as several participants put it—that “sharing is caring.”

In her opening remarks, Ms. Maluleke commended the progress SAIs have made and expressed optimism about the future of capacity development, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. She emphasized the importance of collaboration among INTOSAI’s bodies and the need for more work in certain areas, such as staff competency, human resources management, and more women in leadership roles.

Participants reported on the progress of a variety of CBC efforts:

• The SAIs of 69 countries have used IntoSAINT, a risk assessment tool that helps improve management of organizational integrity.
• The Task Force on INTOSAI Auditor Professionalization has developed International Standard of SAIs (ISSAI) 150, on auditor competence, and guidance to support it.
• CBC refreshed its website, allowing visitors to easily access content divided into four sections: ideal working environment, professional standards and guidance, competent people, and assessment and ongoing improvement.
• A global survey found that 18 SAIs conducted peer reviews, and a seminar on peer reviews will be held on November 10, 2021.
• The virtual catalogue of cooperative audits has grown, with 247 entries added since 2017.
• Workstreams have gathered best practices and developed guidance related to peer-to-peer support, auditing in complex and challenging contexts, and key capacity development topics like engaging with civil society.

The INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) reported on the implementation of the SAI Performance Measurement Framework (PMF), which has helped more than 100 SAIs conduct a holistic and evidence-based evaluation of their performance and demonstrate their relevance to stakeholders. A special highlight of the meeting was the recognition of SAI Bhutan and SAI Kenya for their successful implementation of the framework.

Participants also discussed CBC’s strategy for 2023-28 and ways to ensure no SAI is left behind. CBC welcomed SAI Malaysia as a new member and announced a new workstream on auditing donor funds.